We'll Reach The Stars
by angiespapertowns
Summary: It's the start of a new era, and mankind is reaching new feats. Alfred F. Jones, astronaut for NASA, is about to embark on one of the biggest journeys in American history. A plan to orbit around the Earth seven times includes its faults, which is where Arthur Kirkland, physicist and mathematician, comes into play.


_Hello!_

 _Here is the first chapter of my story, I really hope you enjoy it._

* * *

 _October 7_ _th_ _, 1959_

 _National Aerodynamics and Space Administration,_

 _Washington D.C._

Alfred F. Jones wasn't your average twenty-one year old. He only had one dream, one wish, one thing that kept that fire raging in his soul. To make it into space. If it wasn't the constellations that intrigued him, it was the thought of the acceleration as he was pushed further away from this world that he lived in, the thought of being able to see everything from new heights, the thought of doing something different. His dreams had no limitations – no confinements. So, he couldn't understand for many years, why these dreams seemed so abnormal to everyone else.

It wasn't like he was moving to Mars for god's sake, although he did think that would be implausible and captivating at the same time. He just wanted to be up there, to touch the stars, to make someone – anyone, proud. Because if he could do it, that was showing that dreams have no limitations, no set-backs, no reason for them not to happen. And that's what matters most.

.

As Alfred walked into National Aerodynamics and Space Administration Headquarters with the other six individuals who had been chosen for Project Seven, he felt his breath catch in his throat and his eyes widen. Here he was – the place he had dreamed about for as long as he could remember. He stood in astonishment and incredulity as the rest of his team had the same reaction. All these other men he would be working with, all of them, had the same dreams and hopes as him, the same inquisitiveness for what was out there in the universe that was to be discovered. And that was simply enough to make a huge grin spread across his face.

These few seconds of marvelling at the building were soon behind him as a tall, big-built man who walked with a sense of dominance stopped right in-front of them all. Following right behind him was a young man who on the opposite scale, showed a sense of inferiority as he smiled and observed them ignorantly.

"Welcome, Mercury 7, to NASA." He eyed them all, looking them up and down as if he was assessing them. "I am Ludwig Beilschmidt, and this is Feliciano Vargas." He gestured to the young man. "You will address us by either 'Sir' or 'Mr. Beilschmidt and Mr. Vargas."

As they all nodded, Feliciano piped up. "You all are so very brave, braver than me! You know, I'm scared of many things, like thunder, waves, dogs." Feliciano was moving up and down on the balls of his feet. "My big brother is incredibly brave; he's going up into space with you all! Aren't you Lovino?" Feliciano had run over and engulfed the man, now known as Lovino, in a big hug.

"Fuck off!" Lovino was red with embarrassment as he tried to push Feliciano off him, to no avail. Ludwig came over and pulled Feliciano off Lovino, maintaining his demeanour as he did so.

"Now, that's enough Feli, there's a time and place to do that, and here is not one." Ludwig cleared his throat. "If you would follow us, we will lead you to the press room." Ludwig turned and walked, Feliciano hot on his trail.

As Alfred turned towards his brother Matthew and let out laugh. Matthew raised an eyebrow conspicuously. "Did you see that Lovino guy's face? He looked like he was going to murder someone!"

"Your sense of humour is just appalling, Alfred F. Jones." Matthew shook his head, though the corners of his mouth twitched up in a small smile.

"It's not my fault that I just have a better sense of humour than you do, Matthew Williams." Alfred continued to walk behind Ludwig and Feliciano, neither seeming to be paying attention to the others who were behind them, their loud chatter filling the walk-ways.

"Well-" Matthew was cut off by a loud voice.

"You bastard!" The violent outburst had come from no other than Lovino himself, who was currently fuming at a man who was just chuckling to himself. "I don't even know you!" Lovino kicked him in the shin.

"Come on Lovi, can't I just have a little fun?" The man inquired, as he hobbled around on one foot, holding the leg that had been kicked tightly as he tried to dull the obvious pain.

"No we cannot! I'd rather have fun with anyone else than you, Antonio Carriedo!" Lovino stomped away from him, turning his attention to where he was going.

"Ouch, that's gotta hurt." Alfred whispered to Matthew, his obnoxious laugh resonating loudly off the walls. "Lovino's a feisty one!" He yelled, which resulted in a death glare directly from Lovino and Alfred laughing even more.

"Lord help us all." Matthew sighed and walked fast-paced towards the press room.

.

As they stopped directly in front of the press room, a giddy feeling overcame Alfred. This was his time to show all those assholes back at home what he was really made of. He felt his heart speed up in anticipation as he turned to his brother, that mischievous grin plastered on his face again. 'Finally, let's show them what we're made of' He took his time to observe the rest of the Mercury 7, all seeming just as eager as he was.

The Spaniard, Antonio Carriedo, as he had discovered from Lovino earlier was his name, was staring attentively at Lovino. His spice brown hair fell over his eyes which he pushed away as he listened to Lovino's rant. One thing Alfred noticed was how much attention he gave Lovino whenever he had something to say, which was all the damn time. Now, Lovino on the other hand, was grumbling as his curl – that inexplicably held its form, was bouncing wildly around. It was no doubt humorous to watch the curl bounce up and down like it had a mind of its own.

"I feel like Lovino has some anger management issues dude." Alfred "whispered" to Matthew, that sounded more like a holler. Lovino turned towards Alfred, rage seething out of him.

"What did you say, idiot?"

Alfred paled at this as he whistled an unintentional tune. "Nothing!" He replied far too hastily for it to be nothing. Lovino just raised an eyebrow at this and rolled his eyes, turning his attention back to the Spaniard.

"Alfred, you are an idiot." Matthew, who had been ignoring everyone and everything, spoke up. He tugged on the sleeve of his jacket as a nervous tick – he just couldn't help it. Matthew's violet eyes stared down different employees, timidly smiling at some and just looking away from others.

Ludwig and Feliciano stopped unexpectedly, resulting in Lovino running into Antonio. It didn't end well. "Bastard! Watch were you're going for fucks sake!" Lovino brushed himself off, the remnants of a slight blush still evident on his cheeks and neck if you looked close enough.

"I'm sorry, mi niño chiquito." Antonio raised his hands up, laughing slightly. Lovino turned red and hit him, jabbering and stuttering as he tried but failed to form a comprehensible sentence. Lovino took a profound breath that you could hear and looked straight into Antonio's eyes, not realizing everyone had stopped what they were doing to gaze at the two.

"I am not your little boy!" Lovino screeched, flinging his hands around pointlessly. At this Alfred, along with a few of the others snickered and mocked him, and with a quick glance from Lovino, shut up profusely.

Ludwig cleared his throat and stood up tall. "If you would both act like conscientious adults that would be generously valued. We're here." He looked down at Feliciano and smiled delicately, fixing up his tie and straightening his jacket. Alfred raised an eyebrow at the two and then adjusted his own jacket, putting on his grin again.

"Let's do this! Time to go to space!" He shouted, loud enough that everyone in at least a ten-meter diameter from him could hear it. Matthew just shook his head in displeasure and looked down. "How am I even related to you?" His voice was obscured by the sound of the doors opening and the onward slaughter of individuals as they stirred to catch a glimpse of the Mercury 7.

.

Arthur, to say the least, was not in one of the best situations at work. He didn't get extremely paid; he didn't get many opportunities. He infrequently even actually did anything other than sit and check over other people's algorithms. But that was about to change with one mission.

He'd been anticipating this moment for forever. This one moment to substantiate to his brothers', mother, father – his work even, that he was worth more than they ever assumed. It was hard to fit into civilization these times for just being dissimilar personality wise – even harder if you were gay, which was precisely what Arthur was.

Now, he couldn't help it that he thought men were attractive – it was just something he found intriguing. He continuously found that even from an adolescent age he had an attraction to men. It was just something about them that made him perk up, made him feel different.

And that's what made his job difficult. He worked in an enclosed space, full of men, all of which had wives and a family. And he hated having to fantasize that he did too. Why was it extremely important if he was gay? Shouldn't they be ecstatic for him? But no, civilization doesn't work like that, so he has to keep it on the back burner.

So, going into work that day, he didn't expect anything to be different. He expected that he would have an average day – checking algorithms, getting the other employee's coffee and tea when they needed it and generally tending to the needs of others along with his own. But that was definitely what didn't happen.

.

Arthur groaned, tapping his foot in a rhythm on the floor as he wracked his brain for anything that would be useful to him at this moment in time. He chewed on the end of his pencil as he drummed his fingers on the table in deliberation. "I just want one day were something bloody different happens…" Then something unusual did happen. His boss, Ludwig Beilschmidt, strolled up to him with a tender smile on his face, something that commonly didn't happen unless he was in a decent mood.

"Hello Arthur, how are you doing today?" Arthur ran a shaking hand through his hair. Had he done something wrong? He couldn't afford to lose this job – this was everything he had worked for.

"I'm good sir, just marking those algorithms that the others handed to me…" He looked up at Ludwig with concern etched onto his face. Ludwig just laughed and patted his back.

"Calm down, I'm not firing you." Arthur let out a sigh of relief. "At least not yet. I'm here to give you an opportunity."

Arthur perked up at that. "Whatever you want sir…" He wasn't going to throw away this chance for redemption.

"Today I'm announcing who will be part of the Project Mercury Redstone 3, 4 along with 6 and 7 missions. I would like you to attend the press meeting." Arthur's eyes widened. He certainly didn't think he would ever be given an opportunity like this.

"Of course! What would you like me to do?" Arthur took a sip of his tea and looked back down to his work, sensing Ludwig staring him down. He wanted to yell a string of insults at everyone else who was observing this happen but alas, he didn't want to be fired right now.

"Well, I'd like you to corroborate some statistics that everyone here has been working on…" Ludwig told him. 'The work that I've been working on…' Arthur thought to himself as he groaned internally. Of course, no one admitted it was him who had been doing all the work.

"I'll do exactly that sir…" Arthur looked back up at him quickly and back down. Ludwig cleared his throat and looked down at Arthur.

"We're going now, so you should definitely get prepared…" Arthur sprang out of his seat and neatened his work uniform, throwing on his blazer and clutching all of the work he had completed for the assignment close to his torso. Ludwig gave him a nod and patted him on the back again.

"You can wait and be seated in the press room in the front row, it is reserved for all staff other than the Mercury 7." Ludwig led him towards the room, Arthur nodding along with everything he said. "I anticipate you to be on your best comportment, as you are our representative for the labor that we have done so far."

"I understand sir…" 'The labor that I have done so far'. He didn't risk saying what he thought, he knew it would be discourteous to say to his manager. That didn't stop him from saying it to anyone else though. After all, the only reason the work was finalized was because of him.

In no time, they had reached the press room and Arthur was already a nervous mess. All of this would be publicized on live television for all to see. "This is where I depart, don't mess it up for us Arthur." Arthur swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat down.

"I won't sir." He pushed through the door and strode straight to a seat in the first row, trying not to draw any notice to himself. He tapped his fingers in a rhythm on his work, as he recited over everything again and furrowed his eyebrows. As he did this he sensed a individual's pair of eyes trail on him and then sit down right in the direct seat across from him.

"Ahh Angleterre, how are you today?" Arthur groaned and looked into the pair of eyes. He didn't want to deal with him today, or any other day to be exact.

"For the last bloody time, it's Arthur – not Angleterre. Just because I come from England does not give you the right to call me that. Just leave me alone, you bloody frog." Arthur directed his focus back to the work in front of him and tried to concentrate again.

"And I have told you, it is Francis – not frog. It's good that you're actually out and about around here for once. Why are you?" Francis leaned back on his chair and looked towards the front.

"I am here because Mr. Beilschmidt entrusted me with informing the public about what we have done so far…" He gritted his teeth when he said the word 'we'. He detested having to lie about it being his own work.

"Well, I bid you good luck." Francis turned back to the front. "Oh look, they're here, the Mercury 7." Arthur elevated his eyes towards the door as it was pushed open, and a group of seven men walked in and all cameras were diverted to them.

But one man, out of all of them, stood out to Arthur. He was young – he looked like he was roughly around his twenties, and he walked like he had a sense of idiocy that lingered over him. Arthur scowled as the man's eyes directly looked into Arthur's. He then, unexpectedly, grinned and winked at Arthur. Arthur felt his breath catch in his throat as he turned away from him and focused his attention elsewhere.

As they all sat down, he turned his eyes back to the front, staring straight at the man. "Good evening ladies and gentleman, as you know, we are here to inform you about the Project Mercury missions that will be occurring that we currently know about – Redstone 3, 4, 6 and 7. Let's introduce the participants in front of us today." Ludwig addressed the camera and then sat back down, calming Feliciano down who was leaping in his seat.

None of the other names meant anything to Arthur. He just let them fly by his brain as he waited in anticipation for one particular name to be called out. He didn't know why, he just had to know the young man's name. "I'm the hero, Alfred F. Jones!" Alfred grinned at the cameras. And in that moment, Arthur knew, that he needed to talk to him.


End file.
